desire to be saved in the way which the gospel prescribes. All declarations to the contrary are either a vain pretence, or they arise from a most culpable ignorance of the individual's own heart. This is plain from the truth of a remark already made, that the speciousness of a difficulty is a test of the sincerity of the inquirer. The man who is sincere will endeavour to look directly to the object of his wants. He will be aware that he has not time, and he will not possess inclination, to occupy his mind with matters unrevealed. Or, if a suspicion of this nature flash before him, it will lead to a more diligent search after the truth; and it will end in a better knowledge of his condition, as a sinner. But, contrary to this, there is here an important and most dangerous defect, which, while it darkens the prospects of the soul, aggravates the doom which is likely to follow. The truth of this position will be manifest, if we consider the following statement. A failure in the attempt to lay hold of the hope of salvation, implies a fault somewhere; either on the part of the inquirer, or on that of his God. But the inquirer exculpates himself, and declares, that he has done all in his power; that his desires have been serious." The fault, then, is charged upon the HEAD OF THE UNIVERSE! Is there not something horrible in this? Is not the disposition which dares undertake it, proudly rebellious, and wholly unfit for the reception of favour? I do not mean merely undeserving, but in a state unsuited to the operations of mercy. And does not this very failure disclose its own cause, by bringing into play so unhallowed, so selfish, and so petulant a temper? A temper that would Snatch from His hand the balance and the rod; If he who thinks himself refused, would pause a moment, and ponder the effect which that supposed refusal has produced, he might discover the reason: a discovery which might be of infinite importance to his spiritual interest, and be, perhaps, the means of securing his end. The first step to truth is the removal of error: and this ill success of the sinner might have shewn him some essential error, if he examined its results in the depth of his own bosom. In consequence of this, he would be nearer his object, and not further from it; nearer, because he would see, more distinctly, both his danger and his wants. I have said that inclination and despair, in certain states of mind, assist each other in the ruin of the soul. But what an awful state of heart should we sometimes see, if we could read the secret feelings of the once promising inquirer, when he abandons the hope before him! We should behold, not the penetrating sorrow which tells the disappointment of a sad heart, and indicates its sincerity; but a latent satisfaction, the high evidence of his hypocrisy. Hear the murmurer, in the pride of self-complacency: "The fault is not mine; I have no censure to attach to myself!" Let us ask him, if there be not a self-gratulation on his return to worldliness and to folly? O, what a mockery of the character and attributes of God! What a challenge to that wrath which bold impiety draws upon itself! Ah, what have availed his resolutions or his prayers? A little delay has shewn him that his conduct has been governed by false pretences; and that, instead of being ready to love the Redeemer, he was prepared to arraign his rectitude and truth! But an avowed abandonment is not universal, even among those who appear to have lost interest in the subject. We hear some stating their determination to continue their inquiry— "I am seeking." Few expressions are more illusive than this. It may be honestly uttered, but it very frequently is not so. It is one of those instances of perverting scripture-language, which a common mistake has sanctioned : a mistake to which I shall advert hereafter. At present, I would say to such a one; Your interest in religion diminished in the failure of your expectations: you were unwilling to admit to yourself that you were relinquishing : all hope, for this would have been a painful thought. You were determined to continue in the same round of duties, although they were discharged with insensibility and heartlessness. This course you considered as a kind of neutral agency; in which, if there were no comfort, there could be no danger. Here, too, you hoped that some light might gradually break in upon you and you profess to "wait pa tiently," because it is the direction of the word of God. But can this dealing be approved by Him? Will a heartless round of form and shew lead you to that grace which you profess to be seeking? Does not this very contentment, while you are without spiritual peace, tell against you? You are seeking? Then it is for an object which you undervalue, and which excites no feeling of anxiety. There is danger in your present situation, and that most imminent. It is not neutral ground on which you are standing. Every hour in which you remain out of Christ, you are increasing your guilt, and diminishing your hope of pardon. The pretext with which you would satisfy your conscience, is one which favours the natural inclinations of the heart. And how frequent are the instances in which a death-like lethargy supervenes! All the little sensibility that had existed, perceptibly giving way to a conscious stupidity: the form of piety adopted, in the place of its principle: and the reluctance to confess a return to the world, gradually lost in its cares and its pleasures! In such an instance as this, in which the pursuit, so called, may have continued for a long time, the most common result is that of embracing some doctrinal error. The nature of evangelical religion is questioned; so is that of change of heart: or the latter is discredited altogether; and the self-satisfying reasoning is, "I may have been mistaken in my expectations. My anxiety has left me; but my present peace may be the answer of prayer: and although I cannot perceive any difference between my present state, and that of some months before, excepting that habit has reconciled me more to outward forms, may I not be safe?" How readily is stupidity mistaken for a heavenly peace, after remaining in such a condition as this! And now, how completely is the soul invested in an armour which no arrow of conviction can penetrate! Or, where this is not exactly the state of mind in which a long continuance of fruitless form has left the Inquirer, another plea is sometimes advanced, nearly as delusive and dangerous as the last. It is this; "I am waiting for a day of power. I have seen that power displayed in the conversion of others. I continue in the way of |